The Effective Suicide Screening and Assessment in the Emergency Department Act would allocate federal funding to emergency departments to help identify and treat those with a high-risk of suicide.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis, R-Tarpon Springs, and Eliot L. Engel, D-NY, Members of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, introduced bipartisan legislation Monday (Oct. 28) designed. to curb the nation’s rising suicide rate.

Since 2001, the suicide rate in the U.S. has risen by 31 percent, making suicide the 10th leading cause of death in the nation, with an estimated 47,000 lives lost each year.

The Effective Suicide Screening and Assessment in the Emergency Department Act would allocate federal funding to emergency departments to help identify and treat those with a high-risk suicide. The proposal would create a voluntary grant program within the Department of Health and Human Services to assist emergency departments in developing protocols for identifying, assessing and treating individuals at risk for suicide. The legislation would also provide grants to hospitals over a five-year period.

Specifically, the proposal would allocate $100 million over a five-year period to support emergency department programs to prevent suicide specifically by:

• Training emergency department clinicians to identify patients at a high-risk of suicide
• Developing programs to coordinate the care and follow-up of those with an elevated risk of suicide
• Supporting the recruitment and retention of behavioral health professionals who specialize in treating individuals experiencing suicidal ideation
• Incentivizing the development of new approaches such as telehealth to help those at a high risk of suicide

This proactive approach is vital, Bilirakis said, because emergency departments are often the first, and sadly too often the only, point of contact within the healthcare system for those most at risk for suicide, such as those with severe mental health conditions or substance use disorders.

A 2016 study found that 11percent of all emergency department patients exhibited suicidal ideation. However, only 3 percent of those patients were diagnosed by current screening tools. Additionally, statistics show that up to 70 percent of patients who leave the emergency department after a suicide attempt never attend their first outpatient follow-up appointment.

“These staggering statistics make it clear that we need improved methods for identifying and assessing the suicide risks of emergency department patients,” Bilirakis said. “As part of my long-term commitment to fixing our broken mental health care system, I want to be sure that we enhance the procedures surrounding the discharge of patients who have attempted suicide or exhibit suicidal ideation to maximize the likelihood that they obtain appropriate follow-up care. Our bill is the first step in making that happen. I appreciate the hard work of the Emergency Nurses Association on this important patient care issue and their support for this legislation.”

Bilirakis represents Florida’s 12th Congressional District, which includes all of Pasco County and the northern parts of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

Gus Bilirakis | Mental Health | Health Care | Politics | Suicide | Tampabay News | News Tampa

#GusBilirakis #MentalHealth #HealthCare #Politics #Suicide #TampabayNews #NewsTampa